1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a structure and method for installing an exterior part, and more particularly, the structure and method for installing the exterior part such as a roof spoiler to be attached to a vehicle body.
2. Description of the Related Art
In a related art, as one of exterior parts, a roof spoiler is attached to a roof panel or a rear gate panel of a vehicle in order to improve aerodynamic performance. As a roof spoiler installation structure, when the roof spoiler is attached to the rear gate panel consisting of an outer panel and an inner panel as one of a later-equipped part, for example, it is normal that concave seat surfaces are provided previously to the roof spoiler where nuts are fitted to concave seat surfaces and then bolts are respectively screwed into the nuts from the outer panel side to fasten to them. In this case, the concave seat surfaces to which the nuts of the roof spoiler are fitted are covered with caps, or the like.
Therefore, as shown in FIG. 3, in a situation that a stepped portion 23a, or the like is formed on an outer panel 23 of a rear gate panel 22, to which a roof spoiler is attached, as a mater of design of the vehicle, it is difficult to provide a hole, which is used to fasten a bolt 25 and a nut 26, because of the stepped portion 23a. Also, even if such a hole 28 can be provided on the outer panel 23 to avoid the stepped portion 23a slightly, it is difficult to execute fastening operation of the bolt 25 and the nut 26 which are provided vertically to the outer panel 23, through a working hole 27 which is provided previously in the inner panel 24 to pass harnesses therethrough, in the case that a working hole on the inner panel 24 is located apart from the hole 28 of the outer panel 23. As a result, the hole 28 used to fasten the bolt 25 and the nut 26 is provided at the position that is apart from the stepped portion 23a of the outer panel 23.
Accordingly, in the related art, a new working hole 29 is additionally provided to the inner panel 24 at a position that is opposed to the fastening hole 28. A fastening operation of the bolt 25 and the nut 26 is carried out via the new working hole 29.
However, in the above installation structure in which the fastening operation of the bolt 25 and the nut 26 is carried out through the new working hole 29, the operation of providing the new working hole 29 in the inner panel 24 is needed, and thus there is the problem such that the efficiency is deteriorated. Further, since the new working hole 29 is provided, there is another problem such that strength of the rear gate panel 22 is decreased. In addition, since the new working hole 29 must be provided apart from the existing working hole 27, the related art has the problem such that a fixing position of the roof spoiler 21 are also limited.
The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and it is an object of the present invention to provide a structure and method for installing an exterior part in which the exterior part, particularly a roof spoiler, can be attached to a vehicle body not to occur the problem such as reduction in the body strength caused when a new working hole is provided.
In order to achieve the above object, an exterior part installation structure comprising:
an inner panel of a vehicle body having a multi-purpose working hole;
a deformable outer panel of the vehicle body having a through hole through which a bolt and a nut are fastened; and
an exterior part attached to the outer panel by fastening the bolt into the nut so that the outer panel is deformed in such a manner that at least one of an axis center of the bolt (for example, an axis center of a threaded portion of the bolt) and an axis center of the nut (for example, an axis center of a threaded hole of the nut) is substantially directed to a center direction of the working hole.
In other words, in the above-mentioned exterior part installation structure, when the threaded portion of the bolt is inserted into a hole of the outer panel and then a fastening operation of the bolt and the nut is executed, the axis center of the threaded portion of the bolt and the axis center of the threaded hole of the nut are directed substantially to the center direction of the working hole. Therefore, the fastening operation of the bolt and the nut can be executed easily and effectively by inserting the tool such as a driver, or the like from the working hole. Also, since the axis center of the threaded portion of the bolt and the axis center of the threaded hole of the nut are directed substantially to the center direction of the working hole, it is not needed to provide additionally the new working hole.
Also, the exterior part installation structure preferably further comprises:
a spacer interposed between the outer panel and the exterior part, the spacer having a hole portion for guiding the threaded portion of the bolt to be screwed into the nut, and an inclined portion and a bolt seat surface which are formed on an outer panel side and form a surface along which the outer panel is deformed and adapted by fastening either the bolt or the nut to the spacer.
In other words, even when the nut is fixed to the exterior part, the threaded portion of the bolt being inserted from the outer panel side can be guided by the hole portion of the spacer and can be screwed smoothly into the nut. Also, the outer panel is deformed by fastening the bolt and the nut and is adapted along the inclined surface and the bolt seat surface of the spacer. Therefore, even if a character line exists in a vicinity of the fixing position of the exterior part on the outer panel, the exterior part and the outer panel can be jointed more tightly.
In addition, in the exterior part installation structure, it is preferable that either the bolt or the nut is fixed to the exterior part and the exterior part is formed by a blow molding so that either the bolt or the nut is buried previously in an inside of the exterior part when the exterior part is molded. Therefore, there is no necessity to cover the concave seat surface with the cap or the like, and thus the external appearance of the exterior part can be improved.
Further, in the exterior part installation structure, it is preferable that the exterior part is a roof spoiler installed on a rear gate panel at a rear portion of a vehicle body.
In addition, in the exterior part installation structure according to the present invention, it is advantageous that a portion of the inner panel around which the working hole is provided and a portion of the outer panel around which the through hole is provided extend substantially in parallel with each other before fastening the bolt and the nut, and wherein the portion of the outer panel is deformed after fastening the bolt and the nut.
Further, in the above-mentioned exterior part installation structure, the working hole of the inner panel may be located apart from a position below the through hole of the outer panel.
Moreover, the above-mentioned object can be achieved by a method for installing an exterior part to a vehicle body comprising the steps of:
aligning the exterior part to a deformable outer panel of the vehicle body having a through hole through which a bolt and a nut are fastened to secure the exterior part to the outer panel; and
fastening the bolt and the nut and simultaneously deforming the outer panel so that at least one of an axis center of the bolt (for example, an axis center of a threaded portion of the bolt) and an axis center of the nut (for example, an axis center of a threaded hole of the nut) is substantially directed to a center direction of a multi-purpose working hole that is formed on an inner panel of a vehicle.